Alzheimer’s shows up decades before symptoms

The earliest changes due to Alzheimer’s disease can be detected 25 years before the estimated age of onset, say scientists.

“A series of changes begins in the brain decades before the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease are noticed by patients or families, and this cascade of events may provide a timeline for symptomatic onset,” says Randall Bateman, professor of neurology at Washington University in St. Louis.